The present invention relates to a machine for salvaging usable portions of used and/or defective materials and, in particular, to a machine for salvaging vinyl from used or defective vinyl automobile trim.
Reconditioning and reusing old parts and recycling portions of used and defective products have long been common practice to reduce the cost of materials and out of concern for the environment. When an entire product can be reconditioned and reused then recycling the same presents only minor problems. When, however, only a portion of the product can be reused or recycled then specialized machines and/or processes are generally required for recycling to be possible and economical.
The present invention is a machine for separating reusable, recyclable portions from a product which includes portions which cannot be easily processed for reuse.
Used or defective vinyl trim for automobiles is one such product. Indeed, such vinyl trim is typically formed from an elongated piece of vinyl 100 which has metal -02 crimped to each longitudinal side edge thereof so that from the front the trim has a vinyl central portion 104 and metal edges 106 (FIG. 1 and 2). The vinyl 100 used to form such trim 108 can be reground and used again. However, the metal crimping 102 provided along the longitudinal edges of the vinyl trim 108 presents an obstacle to such regrinding and reuse.
A further problem encountered when salvaging vinyl from vinyl trim is that vinyl trims for automobiles come in a variety of widths. Therefore, different pieces of trim have metal crimped edges of different widths and vinyl central portions of different widths. The present invention provides a machine which can advantageously separate the bulk of the vinyl, defined at the vinyl central portion 104, from the longitudinal metal crimped edges 106 so that the bulk of the vinyl can be reground and used again.
More particularly, the vinyl trim salvage machine provided in accordance with the present invention advantageously severs the vinyl trim 108 along its length between the vinyl central portion 104 and each of the longitudinal metal crimped edges 106 so as to advantageously salvage the bulk of the vinyl from such trim. Furthermore, varying vinyl trim types can be accommodated in accordance with the present invention by providing a plurality of cutting devices in a single machine for cutting the metal edges from trims having central portions of various widths.
Other objects, features, and characteristics of the present invention as well as the methods of operation and functions of the related elements of structure, and the combination of parts and economies of manufacture, will become more apparent upon consideration of the following description and the appended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification, wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in the various figures.